What Characteristic Will Help Make You a Successful Leader?

In his book, 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, John C Maxwell speaks of a time when he was teaching of a 360-degree leader, which means, a leader exerts his influence not just down on those he leads but also up with his boss and across with his colleagues. During a Q&A session, an attendee asked, “Which is the most difficult – leading up, across, or down?”

He answered, “None of the above. Leading myself is the
toughest.” In other words, great leaders lead by example.

A survey conducted by Opinion Research Corporation for
Ajilon Finance asked American workers to select the one trait that was most
important for a person to lead them. These were the results:

RANK

CHARACTERISTIC

PERCENTAGE

1

Leading
by example

26%

2

Strong
ethics or morals

19%

3

Knowledge
of the business

17%

4

Fairness

14%

5

Overall
intelligence and competence

13%

6

Recognition
of employees

10%

Sir Alex Ferguson was asked who, out of all of the
amazing captains he has during his 26-year tenure at Manchester United, was his
greatest captain. He said, Roy Keane. When asked why. He answered that it was
because more than anything he led by example on the field. He showed exactly
what type of intensity and level he expected his teammates to play at. And the
rest of the team followed him and respected him for it.

In order to lead by example, we need to look at
ourselves first, we need to change ourselves and we need to lead ourselves. My
father, Dave Boreham, said, “We do not have the right to lead others until we
have earned that right by leading ourselves first.”